LGBT Bar Association to honor American Airlines legal department

The National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Bar Association will present the Out & Proud Corporate Counsel Award to the Legal Department of American Airlines in Dallas on February 7. The LGBT Bar each year honors attorneys and corporations that advocate for LGBT equality within the legal sphere through the Out & Proud Corporate Counsel Awards program.

“The LGBT Bar is proud to recognize American Airlines,” said D’Arcy Kemnitz, executive director of the LGBT Bar. “The company is truly an industry leader in diversity practices and has achieved unprecedented success on behalf of the LGBT community.”

American Airlines is the only airline in the world and one of only a handful of companies that has earned 100% perfect marks on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index every single year from the start. For two decades, the company’s policies and actions demonstrate a lasting commitment to equality, fairness and inclusion.

American Airlines was the first major airline to implement same-sex domestic partner benefits and to include sexual orientation and gender identity in its workplace nondiscrimination policies. GLEAM, American Airlines’ LGBT employee resource group, was the first of its kind in the industry. The group works within the organization to promote diversity, acceptance and equality among management, straight allies and other employee groups.

American has long been a vocal supporter of—and was the first major airline to endorse—the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would extend basic job protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees. The airline has also supported passage of the Tax Equity for Health Plan Beneficiaries Act, legislation that seeks equal treatment for the taxation of health insurance benefits for domestic partners and married spouses. For more information on American’s commitment to diversity, visit AA.com/Diversity.

The Out & Proud Corporate Counsel Award will be presented on Thursday, February 7, 2013 at a reception in Dallas. Please contact Kelly Simon at (202) 637-7661 or Kelly@LGBTbar.org for tickets and additional information.

The National LGBT Bar Association is a national association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, law students, activists and affiliated lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender legal organizations. The Association promotes justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBT community in all its diversity.